Senedd Member Lindsay Whittle highlighted the prestigious science award given to state educated Caerphilly-born Kate Watkins academic at the Senedd today.
Kate Watkins, a Oxford University Professor and Dean of St Anne’s College, Oxford, has been awarded the 2026 Suffrage Science Award in Life Sciences.
The Plaid Cymru Caerphilly Senedd Member told a plenary session that Kate Watkins exceptional achievement spans from the classrooms of Caerphilly to the historic halls of Oxford University.
“This prestigious award inspired by the Suffragette Movement recognises not only scientific excellence but also the vital work of mentoring the next generation of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).
“Kate is a true product of our local community, a proud daughter of Caerphilly. She was educated at Caerphilly’s St Martin’s and St Ilan’s Comprehensive schools in the 1980s and from those local roots she went onto read Natural Sciences at Cambridge University.
“It is a journey that proves that talent is everywhere even if opportunity isn’t always. But behind every great scientist is a foundation of support. I know her parents Christine and Mike Watkins are watching her success with immense and well deserved pride.”
Lindsay Whittle said that Professor Kate Watkins had carried a torch for Wales, for women in science and for Caerphilly.
Professor Kate Watkins’s educational travels & research into stammering & the brain have taken her from Caerphilly to Cambridge to UCL London to McGill in Montreal and to Oxford, but she regularly comes home to Wales.
- The Suffrage Science scheme celebrates women in science for their scientific achievements and for their ability to inspire others. It aspires to encourage more women to enter scientific subjects, and to stay in science.